The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
An Israeli advocacy NGO says it has asked the International Criminal Court to consider legal action against Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for allegedly “aiding war crimes” through exports to Iran.
The complaint comes amid an escalating diplomatic spat between the two nations, which began with the start of the Gaza war in October 2023 and worsened after Madrid recognized a Palestinian state a year later.
Filed by Shurat HaDin, which has taken legal action worldwide against what it calls “Israel’s enemies,” the lawsuit accuses Spain of providing “components required by the regime in Tehran and its proxies for military purposes.”
In a filing submitted under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, it alleges that Spain approved the export of about 1.3 million euros’ worth of so-called dual-use products that could be used in detonators and other explosive-related applications.
“These materials are not innocent industrial products, but critical components that enable explosive devices to function, and they were transferred in circumstances where their use for attacks against civilians was foreseeable and reasonable,” Shurat HaDin says in a statement.
Ties between Israel and Spain have nosedived since the Gaza war sparked by Hamas’ October 2023 cross-border attacks, with Israel angered by Sanchez’s unrelenting criticism.
More than 20 commercial ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing US officials.
Reuters cannot immediately verify the report.
Earlier today, the US military’s Central Command said no ships have made it past a US naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coastal areas, and six merchant ships have followed orders to turn back.
Palestinian media outlets report that earlier today, settlers attacked Palestinians with pepper spray in the village of Tuqu’ in the Bethlehem area. Three Palestinians were injured.
Separately, it was reported that in the northern Jordan Valley, in Ein al-Hilweh, settlers sprayed a Palestinian family and two activists who were assisting them with pepper spray.
The activists reportedly required medical treatment.
Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad says she used today’s historic meeting with her Israeli counterpart in Washington to reiterate Beirut’s call for a ceasefire between the IDF and Hezbollah.
In remarks to reporters after the meeting, Hamadeh Moawad says it was constructive and thanks the US for facilitating.
“I reiterated the urgent need for the full implementation of the November 2024 cessation of hostilities agreement,” the Lebanese envoy says, referring to the previous truce between Israel and Hezbollah, which was supposed to see the Iran-backed terror group disarm and withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon.
“I emphasized the integrity of our territory and the full sovereignty of the state over all Lebanese land,” she says. “I called for a ceasefire and for displaced persons to return to their homes.”
“I also urged the adoption of practical steps to alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis that the country continues to suffer from as a result of the ongoing conflict,” she says, adding that the date of the next meeting will be announced later.
The US Treasury Department says it does not plan to renew a temporary easing of sanctions on Iranian oil that aimed to ease war-related supply shocks.
“The short-term authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil already stranded at sea is set to expire in a few days and will not be renewed,” the Treasury Department says in a statement.
It adds that it is “maintaining maximum pressure” on Tehran.
The initial authorization allowed for the delivery and sale of Iranian crude and other petroleum products loaded onto ships before March 20, and was to last through April 19.
The step was part of a series of measures launched by the Trump administration to quell skyrocketing energy prices following the start of the war on February 28, including a similar easing of sanctions on Russian oil at sea.
The Knesset Finance Committee approves the allocation of nearly NIS 100 million ($33 million) in funds for Haredi education institutions, part of a larger NIS 1 billion ($331 million) transfer that was halted in December by the High Court of Justice because it had not undergone the required deliberations and vote in the parliamentary panel.
The opposition boycotts this evening’s vote, whose members stand up and decline to take part since the requested showing of background material on the level of secular education in Haredi schools — which the High Court ordered to be presented to lawmakers — was delayed until the debate was nearly finished.
Lawmakers decry efforts to fund schools that fail to teach required core subjects, noting that the data provided by the Education Ministry indicated only 6.9% of elementary school English teachers in the United Torah Judaism party’s associated school network were qualified for their positions. The data also shows that only 13.6% of middle school math teachers are qualified.
“Tonight, the coalition stole another NIS 98 million from you. After 7 hours of discussion in the Finance Committee and an hour before the vote, we were sent about 700 pages of data from the Education Ministry on the scope of core studies in private Haredi education,” tweets committee member Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid), saying the committee chairman refused to delay the vote for the material to be reviewed.
Speaking with The Times of Israel, Yesh Atid MK Moshe Tur-Paz, who attended the meeting but is not a member of the committee, calls the vote “illegitimate” because lawmakers were not given the opportunity to study the data and determine how much of the money should be offset to compensate for the schools’ failure to teach secular subjects.
Addressing the committee following the vote, United Torah Judaism MK Yitzhak Pindrus argues that “there is no such thing” as a teacher in Haredi schools without a teaching certificate, and that “the level of English and Math in Beit Yaakov” girls’ schools “is the highest in the country.”
The US, Israel and Lebanon issue a joint statement following their historic trilateral meeting earlier today in Washington, saying that they had held “productive discussions toward launching direct negotiations” between Beirut and Jerusalem.
The characterization suggests that today’s meeting was not the actual start of peace talks, rather a preparatory step toward that end.
“The United States congratulated the two countries on this historic milestone and expressed its support for further talks, and for the government of Lebanon’s plans to restore the monopoly of force and to end Iran’s overbearing influence,” the joint statement says.
Washington “expressed its hope that talks can exceed the scope of the 2024 agreement and bring about a comprehensive peace deal,” the statement says, referring to the previous Lebanon ceasefire brokered by the Biden administration, which required Hezbollah to disarm and withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon — goals that largely went unmet.
The US in the statement also expressed its support for Israel’s right to defend itself from continued Hezbollah attacks and stressed that any ceasefire in Lebanon must be the result of talks between Jerusalem and Beirut, rather than being connected to any other tracks.
Iran had sought to include Lebanon in the ceasefire it reached with the US, and while Pakistani mediators said that the two-week truce currently in place was supposed to cover Hezbollah, Jerusalem and Washington rejected those terms.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has accordingly continued in the week since the Iran truce came into place.
The joint statement recognizes Lebanon’s position in favor of the “urgent need” to restore the November 2024 ceasefire deal
Beirut “underscores the principles of territorial integrity and full state sovereignty, while calling for a ceasefire and concrete measures to address and alleviate the severe humanitarian crisis that the country continues to endure as a result of the ongoing conflict,” the joint statement says.
As for Israel, the joint statement says Jerusalem during today’s meeting “expressed its support for disarming all non-state terror groups and [to] dismantle all terror infrastructure in Lebanon and expressed its commitment to working with the government of Lebanon to achieve that goal to ensure security for the people of both countries.”
“Israel also expressed its commitment to engage in direct negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues and achieve a durable peace that will strengthen security, stability and prosperity in the region,” the statement says — in what is seen as a gesture toward the preference of diplomatic over military solutions after Jerusalem for weeks ignored appeals from Beirut for direct talks.
“All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue,” the joint statement adds, stopping short of announcing a specific date for the next meeting.
The commander of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion was severely wounded during “operational activity” in southern Lebanon earlier today, the military announces.
The IDF says the circumstances under which the officer, a lieutenant colonel, was seriously hurt are under investigation.
He was airlifted to a hospital by helicopter and his family was notified, the army adds.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington releases what it says was Ambassador Yechiel Leiter’s opening statement at the US-brokered talks earlier today with his Lebanese counterpart.
“Today is Yom Hashoah, the day Jews around the world remember the Holocaust. It is also Yom Hagevura, the day of courage, when we declare, ‘Never Again.’ This phrase is a promise and a plan of action. We declare that we will take our enemies at their word when they tell us they are committed to our annihilation,” Leiter said.
“As Iran’s top proxy, Lebanese Hezbollah has made clear its intent to eliminate Israel — the Jewish State and the Jewish homeland — and to bring death and destruction to its people. The Shoah teaches us to take that threat seriously, and we cannot hesitate to remove it from our borders. We have the courage that it takes to do so,” he continued.
“We also have the courage to pursue peace through strength, and to work tirelessly for tranquility and prosperity for all. Today, we pursue those values for ourselves and especially for our Lebanese neighbors of all ethnic denominations. I commend Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and his government for not allowing itself to be held hostage to the threats of Hezbollah’s leader. Naim Qassem and Hezbollah belong to the past. We are here for the future.”
“I believe that we can, in good faith, accomplish the following interrelated goals: the complete dismantlement of Hezbollah, the freeing of Lebanon from Iran’s terror proxy and the achievement of a real, lasting and mutually celebrated peace for the benefit of our peoples,” Leiter concluded.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter tells reporters after today’s Washington meeting with his Lebanese counterpart that the sit-down went about as well as it could have, given that both sides recognized that they’re in agreement about the need to “liberate” Lebanon from Hezbollah.
“We discovered today that we’re on the same side of the equation, and that’s the most positive thing we could have come away with,” Leiter tells reporters outside the State Department. “We are both united in liberating Lebanon from an occupation power dominated by Iran called Hezbollah.”
Leiter says the US-facilitated talks focused on crafting a “long term vision where there will be a clearly delineated border between our countries, and where the only reason we’ll need to cross each other’s territory will be in business suits to conduct business or in bathing suits to go on vacation.”
The Israeli envoy hails the Lebanese government for bucking Hezbollah’s calls to pull out of today’s historic talks — the most senior-level engagement ever held by the two countries. “This is the beginning of a very strong, fortified and consistent battle against Hezbollah.”
Asked what he heard from his Lebanese counterpart Nada Hamadeh that has him so optimistic Beirut will actually be able to disarm Hezbollah, Leiter responds, “They expressed a strong will to this time disarm Hezbollah.”
“The Lebanese government made it very clear that they will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah,” he adds.
Pressed on whether Israel will heed Lebanese calls for a ceasefire, Leiter is non-committal, insisting that Israel will do whatever is necessary to safeguard its citizens.
As for criticism from some Lebanese ministers who have branded Israel’s widespread military campaign in the country as counterproductive, Leiter claims Beirut knows that the current government would not be in place today if it weren’t for Israel’s degrading of Hezbollah over the past two-plus years.
“Iran has been weakened, Hezbollah has been dramatically weakened, so this is an opportunity. This is the first time our two countries are sitting together in over three decades. Let’s enjoy the moment,” the Israeli envoy says.
While no follow-up meeting has been scheduled, Leiter says that both sides will be taking proposals raised today back to their respective capitals and that he expects the talks to resume in the coming weeks in Washington.
He says the agreement being crafted will cover both security and civilian matters so that “we can take the peace treaty and embark on a harmonious relationship like we have had with the other Abraham Accords countries.”
Asked about the potential for France to help mediate between Israel and Lebanon, as it has in the past, Leiter rejects the idea altogether.
“We’d like to keep the French as far away as possible from pretty much everything, but particularly when it comes to peace negotiations.”
“They’re not needed. They’re not a positive influence, particularly not on Lebanon,” Leiter says.
Paris has been highly critical of Jerusalem’s conduct in Lebanon, but is seen as a more welcome mediator in Beirut.
The US military reveals that 399 US troops have been wounded so far in the Iran war.
The formal injury count, provided by Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for US Central Command, says three service members have been seriously wounded.
Central Command said two weeks ago in a previous update that 348 troops were wounded, six of them seriously. However, the military command does not provide any further details about the wounded, so it’s unclear whether anyone’s status improves or worsens.
Hawkins says of the total wounded to date, 354 service members have returned to duty.
Since the Iran war began, 13 US service members have been killed in combat.
This year’s Jewish pilgrimage to Tunisia’s island of Djerba will welcome more worshipers after two years of scaled-down participation due to safety concerns, organizers say.
The Lag B’Omer pilgrimage to the Ghriba synagogue, Africa’s oldest, has in the past drawn thousands of pilgrims from Europe and beyond, attracting international and local tourists as well.
But after a deadly 2023 attack on the synagogue that killed two worshipers and three police officers, fewer pilgrims have been turning out, while officials also placed restrictions on the event.
This year, organizers say it will be “open to everyone, Tunisians and foreigners, as part of a gradual return to normal,” says the head of the organizing committee, Perez Trabelsi.
The pilgrimage will be held from April 30 to May 6.
Festivities will still be limited to indoors this year, whereas the pilgrimage usually includes a parade outside of the synagogue.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the United Nations has an indication that it is highly probable talks to end the Iran war will restart.
US President Donald Trump said today that Iran talks could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, according to an interview with the New York Post.
Asked what the United Nations knew about such prospects, Guterres tells reporters at the UN, “The indication we have is that it is highly probable that these talks will restart.”
Guterres says he met today with the deputy prime minister of Pakistan, and praised Pakistan’s peace efforts.
“I consider it essential that these negotiations go on,” Guterres says. “I think it would be unrealistic to expect… such a complex problem, long-lasting problem, could be resolved in the first session of a negotiation. So we need negotiations to go on, and we need a ceasefire to persist as negotiations go on.”
The meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington has wrapped up after roughly two hours at the State Department.
The US brokered the direct talks between Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh.
No date for a follow-up meeting has been set.
A State Department official says today’s meeting had been planned for a month, before last weekend’s Iran talks were held in Islamabad.
“As the president has made clear, there is no link between the negotiations between the United States and Iran in Islamabad and the Israel-Lebanon talks,” the State Department official says.
“Iran dragged the Lebanese people into a war so it cannot pretend to be Lebanon’s protector,” the official continues. “Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that does not deserve a place. It must be fully disarmed and the United States supports that goal. Iran will not be allowed to dictate the future of Lebanon any more. These talks are part of that effort.”
Separately, the State Department official notes that Washington recently approved $58.8 million in new humanitarian programs to help provide lifesaving assistance to the over 1 million Lebanese civilians who have been displaced by the ongoing Israeli bombing campaign.
Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar will end his tenure on May 5, after an initial handover date was delayed due to the war in Iran.
The new date was agreed upon during a meeting Bar held today with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the military says.
Brig. Gen. Omer Tischler is set to replace Bar after over four years in the role.
“The chief of staff emphasized that the rotation is conditional on an operational situation assessment,” the IDF says.
The IAF handover was initially set for this month.
Three Hezbollah operatives, including a member of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, surrendered to IDF troops in the southern Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil yesterday, the military says.
The IDF says that soldiers of the Givati Brigade had exchanged fire “from a close range” with a Hezbollah cell in Bint Jbeil, hitting the terror operatives.
“At the end of the battle, three terrorists threw down their weapons and surrendered to the troops,” the IDF says, adding that they were taken to Israel to be interrogated by the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504, which specializes in human intelligence.
Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah stronghold, has been the focus of IDF operations in southern Lebanon in recent days.
The US State Department issues a $10 million reward for the leader of an Iran-backed militia in Iraq.
The bounty is placed on Ahmad al-Hamidawi, secretary general of the Iran-backed militia Kataeb Hezbollah.
In a post on X, in which it publishes al-Hamidawi’s photograph, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program writes that the group is “responsible for attacks on US diplomatic facilities in Iraq, the kidnapping of US citizens, and the killing of innocent Iraqi civilians.
Last month, Kataeb Hezbollah kidnapped an American journalist, Shelly Kittleson, in Baghdad, but released her several days later on condition that she leave the country. Officials with the group at the time told The Associated Press that in exchange, the Iraqi government would release several members of the militia who had been previously detained.
The group is also responsible for the kidnapping of Israeli Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was freed last year after 2.5 years in captivity.
The IDF says it carried out a wave of airstrikes against numerous Hezbollah sites in the southern Lebanon town of Aadshit last night.
The strikes were carried out after the IDF said it had identified “increased activity by the Hezbollah terror organization identified in the village.”
Since hostilities escalated on March 2, Hezbollah has fired some 130 rockets from Aadshit at troops in southern Lebanon and at Israel, especially Kiryat Shmona, the military says.
Among the sites hit in the town were weapon depots, rocket launchers and Hezbollah headquarters, the army says.
The IDF says the strikes also killed several Hezbollah operatives who had planned attacks on Israel.
Israel’s shekel gains, hitting a 30-year high against the US dollar as the local currency’s strength continues to be driven by cautious optimism about a resumption of Iran talks and prospects for Lebanon talks.
The shekel is trading at NIS 3.01 to the dollar and is close to breaking its psychological barrier of NIS 3/$. It marks the shekel’s strongest value since 1995.
“There are expectations for an improvement in Israel’s geopolitical situation, along with expectations of a sharp increase in defense exports,” says Leader Capital Markets chief economist Jonathan Katz. “Meanwhile, the high-tech sector continues to raise funds abroad.”
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth denies reports that he is being considered as a replacement for Israeli consul-general in New York, Ofir Akunis, insisting that reporting to the contrary is “nothing but baseless rumors and complete fake news.”
“There are political figures who would be delighted to see me out of the race in the upcoming primaries, due to the broad support I enjoy among the public,” the Likud lawmaker posts on X, insisting that he still has to pass a package of military service and conscription laws and intends “to continue focusing on my work for the public.”
Multiple Hebrew media outlets have reported that those close to Netanyahu have been considering Bismuth as a replacement for Akunis — who will reportedly be tapped as the next head of Keren Hayesod — as a reward for shepherding the law largely exempting the ultra-Orthodox from military service through the legislature.
Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt will meet Turkey’s top diplomat this week in Turkey for talks on regional matters, a ministry source tells AFP.
“This is the third meeting of the four countries to discuss regional affairs, not specifically Hormuz,” says the source, who wished to remain anonymous.
The top diplomats are due to hold talks on the margins of an annual diplomacy forum in southern Turkey that opens Friday.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s annual Holocaust Day speech at Yad Vashem as “a moral and ethical low,” after the premier uses the platform to boast of his successes against Iran in the recent war.
“Unlike Netanyahu, I didn’t want to engage in politics on Holocaust Remembrance Day, so I waited for it to end,” says Lapid in a statement.
“The man on whose watch the greatest disaster since the Holocaust happened to the Jewish people claims that he prevented a second Holocaust. The man who promised to eliminate Hamas and failed, to eliminate Hezbollah and failed, to eliminate Iran and failed, once again explains that he will protect the people of Israel,” he says, laying into Netanyahu for doing “everything to promote and finance evasion from the Jewish army.”
“One day you puff up and say that we are a ‘world power’ and the next day you come forward and take risks and explain to us that we were miraculously saved from another Holocaust. It’s a disgrace.”
During his remarks last night, Netanyahu said that if Israel and the United States “hadn’t acted” against Iran’s nuclear, missile and other military targets, “the names Natanz, Fordow, Isfahan and Parchin would likely have been remembered with eternal dread, precisely like Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek, and Sobibor.”
Commander of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, is again in Israel for meetings with the Israeli military’s top brass.
Cooper and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir today held a meeting with Holocaust survivor Bella Haim for Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Haim, the grandmother of hostage Yotam Haim — who was mistakenly killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip — was born in the Polish town of Stoczek and survived the Holocaust by fleeing with her family to Russia.
The IDF says the two military chiefs heard Haim’s “testimony and personal story.”
Cooper and Zamir are also expected to discuss the campaign in Iran and plans for if the war resumes.
Far-right Polish lawmaker Konrad Berkowicz sparks outrage after calling Israel the “new Third Reich” and displaying an altered Israeli flag bearing a swastika during a speech in parliament.
Speaking in parliament hours before the annual March of the Living at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Berkowicz alleges that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza and repeats unverified claims about the use of phosphorus munitions against civilians.
He compares the number of children killed in Gaza to the war in Ukraine and describes graphic scenes of suffering before unveiling the modified flag.
Polish MP Konrad Berkowicz compares Israel’s crimes against humanity to those of the Third Reich and displays an Israeli flag with a swastika.
Israel is the new Third Reich! pic.twitter.com/Uo8GBcgQcc
— Sławomir Mentzen (@SlawomirMentzen) April 14, 2026
Other MPs immediately protest, with Deputy Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty saying that showing a swastika in the Polish parliament is “in no way justified.”
Another MP, Sławomir Ćwik, calls for the case to be referred to prosecutors, citing Polish laws that criminalize the promotion of Nazi symbols or incitement to hatred.
The incident also drew condemnation from US Ambassador Thomas Rose, who responded “SHAME SHAME SHAME on YOU!!” on social media.
Berkowicz has previously faced criticism over controversial and antisemitic remarks, including repeatedly accusing Israel of “murder” in social media posts in recent years.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun expresses his hope that the meeting between Israel and Lebanon in Washington “will mark the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese people in general and the residents of the south in particular.”
“The only solution lies in the Lebanese Army redeploying to the internationally recognized borders,” he tell Italian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Luciano Portolano, according to the Lebanese readout, “thereby becoming the sole authority responsible for the security of the region and the safety of its residents, without any partnership from any party whatsoever,” a likely reference to Iran and Hezbollah.
During the Beirut meeting, Aoun says he will welcome the presence of Italy and other nations contributing to UNIFIL after the peacekeeping mission’s mandate ends in 2027.
The Home Front Command says its wartime guidelines remain unchanged until Sunday night.
By Sunday at 8 p.m., a new assessment will be held by the Home Front Command.
Under the current guidelines, in communities on the Lebanon border, educational activities are permitted only inside bomb shelters, and in the northern Golan Heights, Upper Galilee, and Haifa Bay area, educational activities are permitted, provided an adequate bomb shelter can be reached in time.
Elsewhere in the country, schools can operate as usual.
Gatherings are meanwhile restricted to 5,000 in some areas of the north, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the south. In central Israel and other areas of the north and the West Bank, gatherings are restricted to 1,000.
US President Donald Trump says that Iran talks could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, according to an interview with the New York Post.
“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” Trump is quoted as saying.
Trump says Pakistan’s Army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is doing a “great job” on the talks.
“He’s fantastic, and therefore it’s more likely that we go back there,” Trump says.
Less than an hour earlier, Trump had given a contradicting message to the Post, saying that talks with Iran were progressing slowly and that if a meeting was to happen, it would likely not be in Pakistan.
“Things are happening, but a little bit slow… I don’t think it’ll be [in Pakistan] that we have our meeting. We’ll probably go to another location. We have another location in mind.”
Asked whether the US is considering Turkey as the next host, Trump responds, “No, somebody more central. Europe, maybe.”
It’s unclear whether there was an actual development in the talks over the past hour.
An IDF soldier was moderately hurt by gunfire in unclear circumstances in the central Gaza Strip earlier today, the military says.
The IDF says the soldier was taken to a hospital and his family was notified.
The source of the gunfire is not yet clear, and the IDF has launched an investigation into the incident.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the goal of today’s historic meeting at the State Department between Israeli and Lebanese envoys is to outline a framework for a peace deal between their two countries.
“The hope today is that we can outline the framework upon which a permanent, lasting peace can be developed so that the people of Israel can live in peace and the people of Lebanon can live, not just in peace but in the prosperity and security that they deserve,” Rubio says in brief remarks to reporters after the sides sat down in a State Department meeting room.
Rubio urges tempering expectations for what can be achieved today.
“This is a process, not an event. This is more than just one day. This will take time, but we believe it is worth this endeavor, and it’s a historic gathering that we hope to build on,” he adds.
“We understand we’re working against decades of history and the complexities that have led us to this unique moment,” Rubio says.
“I know some of you are shouting questions about ceasefires. This is a lot more than just about that. This is about bringing a permanent end to 20 or 30 years of Hezbollah’s influence in this part of the world — not just the damage that’s its has inflicted on Israel, but the damage that it has inflicted on the Lebanese people,” he tells reporters.
“We are joined by excellent people who will be in a position to obviously take this back to their respective capitals,” he adds, without taking questions from reporters.
Amid the historic meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese envoys to the US in Washington, Hezbollah appears to have stepped up its rocket attacks on northern Israel.
Sirens have been sounding across the Galilee for the past half an hour, warning of rocket fire from Lebanon.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
The IDF warned that Hezbollah may increase its rate of attacks this evening.
Ido Norden begins his tenure as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, according to Netanyahu’s office.
Norden, the author of a book about Israel’s “deep state,” replaces disgraced spokesman and chief of staff, Ziv Agmon, who offered his resignation after his derogatory remarks about Likud lawmakers of Middle Eastern, or Mizrahi, descent were leaked to the press.
Netanyahu said that he had accepted Agmon’s apology and that he would remain in his role until a replacement was found, but reversed course after criticism from both the opposition and his own party.
Netanyahu still has not appointed a new spokesperson.
The American military says more than 10,000 servicemembers, a dozen warships, and dozens of aircraft are carrying out a naval blockade on Iran.
“More than 10,000 U.S. Sailors, Marines, and Airmen along with over a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft are executing the mission to blockade ships entering and departing Iranian ports,” the US Central Command says in a statement.
CENTCOM says that in the first 24 hours, “no ships made it past the U.S. blockade and 6 merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.”
“The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” it continues.
CENTCOM adds that its forces are “supporting freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”
US President Donald Trump announced the blockade following the breakdown of weekend talks to end the six-week-long war with Iran.
Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter poses for a photo with his Lebanese counterpart Nada Hamadeh at the start of their meeting in Washington, the most senior in-person engagement ever held between the two countries.
While a US official had told The Times of Israel that the pair would shake hands, the ambassadors avoided doing so before entering a private room at the State Department along with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, State Department Counselor Mike Needham, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz. The American diplomats are facilitating the meeting.
The six officials don’t take questions from reporters before heading into the meeting room.
Israel is aiming to use the meeting to discuss the disarmament of Hezbollah along with an eventual peace treaty with Lebanon, while Beirut’s top priority is to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon — something Jerusalem has ruled out, leading two officials involved in the meeting’s planning to temper their expectations for what can be accomplished.
The IDF warns that Hezbollah may increase its rate of rocket attacks on Israel in the coming hours.
“In accordance with the situational assessment and as part of the development of the campaign, increased fire from Lebanese territory is possible, likely focused on the northern region,” the military says in a statement.
The IDF says there are no changes to the Home Front Command’s guidelines at this stage, but civilians should maintain vigilance.
“If there are changes in the situational assessment, the public will be updated accordingly,” the IDF says, adding that it is “prepared for both defense and offense.”
Israel and Lebanon are set to hold direct talks in Washington today, which Hezbollah has vociferously opposed.
The IDF says combat engineers demolished four Hamas tunnels in the Israeli-controlled portion of the Gaza Strip over the weekend.
The tunnels on the eastern, Israeli-held side of the Yellow Line in total spanned some 800 meters, the IDF says.
The military says the tunnels contained rooms where Hamas operatives would reside, along with mines and other explosive material used by Hamas to build bombs.
US President Donald Trump criticizes Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for her unwillingness to help in the Iran war.
“I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he says of his political ally in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
The interview is published less than 24 hours after Meloni condemned as “unacceptable” Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV, after the pontiff’s repeated calls for an end to the war in the Middle East.
Trump tells Corriere that it was she who was “unacceptable,” alleging she did not care if Iran had a nuclear weapon.
The Corriere article was published in Italian, but AFP obtained the original quote in English.
Rescue forces are responding to reports of a Hezbollah drone impact in the northern city of Nahariya a short while ago.
There are no immediate reports of injuries following the attack from Lebanon.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, are expected to formally shake hands ahead of the direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington today, signifying the most senior engagement between the countries in decades, a US official familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.
The pair will then move to another room to begin the meeting, after which a statement is expected to be released, the official adds.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to attend the meeting at 11 a.m. at the US State Department, with senior US official Mike Needham and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa facilitating the dialogue.
Defense Minister Israel Katz says the removal of enriched uranium is a precondition for ending the US-Israel war on Iran.
Katz says the 12-day war against Iran last year and the recent operation “destroyed Iran’s nuclear program and its ability to produce nuclear weapons.”
“What remains is the issue of the enriched material, which could serve as a basis for an attempt to restart the project,” says Katz in a video statement. “Therefore, the United States and Israel have defined removing this material from Iran as a precondition for ending the campaign.”
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry says a police officer was killed, along with three civilians — including a child — in an IDF strike today on a police vehicle in Gaza City.
According to the Hamas statement, nine other people were wounded in the attack.
The IDF has not yet commented.
Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including the UK, urge Israel and Lebanon to “seize this opportunity” ahead of talks between the two nations today in Washington.
Britain’s foreign ministry posts the ministers’ joint statement, saying “direct negotiations can pave the way to bring lasting security for Lebanon and Israel as well as the region.”
The IDF says it has killed three Hezbollah operatives who wounded 10 paratroopers during a gun battle in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil overnight.
During the night, soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 101st Battalion exchanged fire with a cell of three Hezbollah gunmen. The battle left three paratroopers in serious condition, one in moderate condition, and six were lightly hurt, according to the IDF.
The troops returned fire and, along with tank shelling and airstrikes, killed two of the Hezbollah gunmen, the military says.
The third Hezbollah operative attempted to flee from the area, and a short while later, he was targeted and killed in a strike, the IDF adds.
סגירת מעגל בקרב בבינת ג'בייל: כוחות חטיבת הצנחנים חיסלו את חוליית המחבלים עמה נתקלו הלילה
במהלך פעילות של כוחות צוות הקרב מחטיבת הצנחנים הלילה בבינת ג'בייל, הכוחות נתקלו פנים אל פנים בחולייה של שלושה מחבלים, שפתחה לעברם באש.
בסגירת מעגל מהירה, הלוחמים השיבו באש, ובסיוע ירי… pic.twitter.com/yM43V8TQmS
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 14, 2026
A senior police detective in the Lahav 433 major crimes unit is being investigated on suspicion of sexually harassing a female officer serving under him.
The officer, who bears the rank of commander, was interrogated Thursday by investigators in the Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI), the agency confirms.
The officer was subsequently barred from entering police facilities for a week, as the investigation continues.
The probe was launched after the female officer contacted the DIPI, a police-probing agency in the State Attorney’s Office, and filed a complaint against the commander.
According to the Ynet news site, she claims the suspect made sexual remarks directed at her during a meeting and attempted to touch her inappropriately.
The IDF says it killed several terror operatives in the Gaza Strip in separate incidents today and yesterday,
Earlier today, troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade spotted a “terrorist near the Yellow Line who approached forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip and posed a threat to them,” the military says.
Yesterday, troops of the Gaza Division spotted several armed Hamas operatives in the Strip’s center, according to the IDF.
“In both incidents, immediately after identification, IDF forces struck and eliminated the terrorists to remove the threat,” the IDF says.
Police have arrested two men suspected in the attempted assassination of Arraba Mayor Ahmad Nassar and his deputy, Anwar Yassin, in the northern Arab city last month.
The suspects are Arraba residents aged 35 and 45, police say. They will be brought to the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court where officers will request to keep them in detention.
The shooting, which left both Nassar and Yassin injured, rocked Arab society and prompted a nationwide strike in Arab cities and towns across Israel.
The mayor had publicly attested to receiving threats on his life by criminal elements in the months before the shooting.
Footage picked up by a security camera the night of the shooting on March 8 shows two men dressed in black entering the bakery where Nassar, Yassin and several others sat chatting around a table.
One of the assailants approached the group, grabbing their attention, while the other cocked his handgun and fired several times, hitting Nassar and Yassin.
Nassar was seriously injured while Yassin suffered moderate injuries.
Rome’s decision to suspend its security cooperation agreement with Israel “is another embarrassing failure by the prime minister and the nonexistent foreign minister,” declares Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, appearing to mock the performance of Gideon Sa’ar, after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that her government had “decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel” in light of the situation in the Middle East.
“Meloni is not a left-wing-progressive European leader, she is in the right-wing-conservative camp and understands the need to fight terrorism,” says Lapid. “The government has failed to advance Israel’s interests even with people who are supposed to be our friends and natural allies.
“We will return, we will establish a government, and Israel will once again be the country everyone wanted to love.”
The 2003 memorandum of understanding signed under Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi set the stage for cooperation in defense and scientific research. The MOU was ratified by Italy in 2005, and is renewed automatically every five years.
The Knesset Finance Committee convenes to approve the allocation of nearly NIS 100 million ($33 million) in funds for Haredi education institutions, part of a larger NIS 1 billion ($331 million) transfer that was halted in December by the High Court of Justice because it had not undergone the required deliberations and vote in the parliamentary panel.
While the rest of the funds have since been distributed, the court last month ordered the committee to hold a meeting to discuss the remaining NIS 98 million.
December’s freeze came after in response to a petition against the transfer submitted by lawmakers from the opposition’s Yesh Atid party, accusing the government of funding educational institutions which do not teach core curriculum subjects as required by law.
In a statement before the committee discussion, Yesh Atid noted that it was taking place on Holocaust Remembrance Day and that “while in the previous budget they cut NIS 3.3 million from aid for Holocaust survivors, today in the Finance Committee they are discussing the transfer of about NIS 100 million to Haredi educational institutions.”
These are the “priorities of the draft dodgers and the corrupt,” the party said.
In a tweet, former committee chairman and Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni says that he had warned for years that “transfers must be made on time and not approved retroactively but the absurd reality is that now we’re required to re-discuss only one transfer, for Haredi education.”
Last month, the Knesset passed the 2026 budget, including billions for Haredi education.
France’s interior minister is seeking to block US rapper Kanye West from performing in the southern city of Marseille in June due to his antisemitic remarks, a source close to the minister tells AFP.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is “highly determined” to ban the June 11 concert at Marseille’s Velodrome stadium and is exploring “all possibilities,” the source says.
West, 48, has been heavily criticized for making repeated antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.
Britain has blocked the US rapper, also known as Ye, from entering the country due to his outbursts, prompting organizers of a festival he was to headline to cancel the July event. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had called booking West “deeply concerning.”
The MarineTraffic tracking service shows a largely empty Strait of Hormuz as the American military enforces a naval blockade on Iran.
There is a large concentration of vessels on both the west, in the Persian Gulf, and to the east, in the Gulf of Oman, with few boats in the strait itself. Some vessels are seen near the Iranian coast.
The Strait of Hormuz is about 90 nautical miles (104 miles or 167 kilometers) long and with a width varying from 52nmi (60 miles or 97km) to 21nmi (24 miles or 39km) at its narrowest point, with Iran on the north and Oman’s Musandam Peninsula and the United Arab Emirates on the south.
Just as the US blockade began yesterday, tanker Rich Starry, which departed Sharjah anchorage off the coast of Dubai heading for China, turned back minutes after approaching the strait, as did a second vessel, the Ostria, according to MarineTraffic.
However, Rich Starry later crossed the strait overnight from Monday to Tuesday via the Iranian-approved vetting route south of Larak Island. Leading shipping journal Lloyd’s List interpreted the Chinese ship’s passage as a “test” of US President Donald Trump’s blockade.
Two tankers turn away from Strait of Hormuz after US blockade begins
At least two tankers reversed course near the Strait of Hormuz shortly after the start of the US blockade, highlighting the immediate impact on vessel movements. According to #MarineTraffic data, the 188-metre… pic.twitter.com/dRNi7yEgJI
— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) April 13, 2026
Meanwhile, at least two ships using Iranian ports passed through the strait yesterday despite the US military blockade, data from maritime tracking firm Kpler indicates.
Maritime analysts have cautioned during the recent weeks of conflict around the strait that ships’ signals in the region have been disrupted and manipulated, making precise tracking difficult.
Trump announced the blockade following the breakdown of weekend talks to end the six-week-long war between the US and Iran, sending oil prices back above $100 a barrel.
In a note to seafarers about the blockade that seeks to take control of the strait away from Iran, the US Central Command said: “Any vessel entering or departing the blockaded area without authorization is subject to interception, diversion, and capture.”
“The blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations.”
The blockade began at 10 a.m. US Eastern Time yesterday.
The 2026 International March of the Living is setting off from Auschwitz to Birkenau to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The march includes 50 Holocaust survivors ages 80 to 98, along with 7,000 participants from around the world, organizers say.
At least two ships using Iranian ports passed through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday despite a US military blockade, data from maritime tracking firm Kpler indicates.
The Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Christianna transited the strategic strait after unloading corn at the Iranian port of Bandar Imam Khomeini, passing Iran’s Larak Island around 1600 GMT on Monday, Kpler says. Washington’s blockade came into effect two hours earlier.
A second ship, the Comoros-flagged tanker Elpis, was near Larak Island around 1100 GMT and cleared the strait about 1600 GMT, the data shows.
British finance minister Rachel Reeves hits out at the “folly” of US President Donald Trump launching a war with Iran “without a clear exit plan.”
The comments to the Daily Mirror newspaper come as Reeves prepares to head to Washington for an International Monetary Fund meeting set to detail the economic impact of the conflict.
Reeves is one of several British government ministers, including the premier Keir Starmer, to express growing exasperation at the actions in the Middle East of its close ally.
“This is a war that we did not start. It was a war that we did not want,” Reeves, who is struggling to fire up Britain’s anemic economy, tells the tabloid.
“I feel very frustrated and angry that the US went into this war without a clear exit plan, without a clear idea of what they were trying to achieve,” she adds.
The IDF publishes bodycam footage of troops locating Hezbollah weapons in a home in southern Lebanon.
The weapons were located by soldiers of the Nahal Brigade.
The IDF says the Nahal soldiers, in coordination with the Israeli Air Force, also demolished several Hezbollah sites, including anti-tank missile launch posts and weapon depots.
תיעוד ממצלמת גוף של לוחם מאיתור אמצעי לחימה בבית אזרחי בדרום לבנון: כוחות חטיבת הנח"ל ממשיכים בפעילות קרקעית ממוקדת
כוחות צוות הקרב החטיבתי הנח״ל בפיקוד אוגדה 162 ממשיכים בפעילות קרקעית ממוקדת בדרום לבנון.
במהלך הפעילות, הכוחות בשיתוף עם חיל האוויר, השמידות עשרות תשתיות של… pic.twitter.com/FQ9YISyTkP
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 14, 2026
The Foreign Ministry downplays the significance of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s announcement that Rome would “suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel.”
“We have no security agreement with Italy,” the Foreign Ministry tells The Times of Israel. “We have a memorandum of understanding from many years ago that has never contained any substantive content.”
“This will not affect Israel’s security.”
The Mossad intelligence agency operated “in the heart of Tehran” during the recent US-Israeli campaign against Iran, Mossad Director David Barnea says at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony.
“We brought precise intelligence to the Air Force, and we hit missiles that threatened Israel,” he says.
“But our mission has yet to be completed,” adds the spy chief. “We didn’t think that this mission would be completed immediately with the end of the battles. But we planned intensively for our campaign to continue and achieve results even in the period after the strikes in Tehran.”
Mossad’s responsibility in the matter, he says, will end “only when this radical regime is replaced.”
Regime change in Iran, says Barnea, “is our mission. We will not stand by, watching, in the face of another existential threat.”
French President Emmanuel Macron says he told his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump that talks in Islamabad should be renewed and escalation be avoided.
Writing on X, he says that “it is essential in particular that the ceasefire be strictly respected by all, and that it include Lebanon.” He also calls for the Strait of Hormuz to be opened unconditionally.
According to Iranian state media, Pezeshkian told Macron Europe must push Washington toward a diplomatic agreement.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says the country is seeking “peace and normalization” with Lebanon, ahead of talks between officials from both nations in Washington today.
“We want to reach peace and normalization with the state of Lebanon… Israel and Lebanon don’t have any major disputes between them. The problem is Hezbollah,” Sa’ar says at a press conference.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to attend the meeting between Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, at 11 a.m. (6 p.m. in Israel).
Diplomatic meetings led by France and Britain this week to discuss a potential future multinational mission will be structured around a series of working groups, ranging from possible sanctions on Iran to cooperation with industry to ensure maritime transit, a person familiar with the matter says.
According to the person, talks among senior diplomats ahead of a meeting co‑chaired by the British and French leaders on Friday will focus on upholding freedom of navigation and maritime security, pursuing economic measures against Iran if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, securing the release of seafarers and stranded vessels, and working with industry to support readiness to resume transit when conditions allow.
Serbia plans to jointly produce combat drones with Israel, in a bid to strengthen its defenses and bolster exports of weapons and military equipment, the country’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic says.
Last week, the Belgrade-based BIRN news website reported Serbia’s SDPR weapons manufacturer wanted to open a drone manufacturing plant with Israel’s Elbit Systems. Elbit would have a 51% stake, with Serbia holding the remainder.
Vucic says Serbia, which is seeking to bolster its drone manufacturing, “cannot make drones like Israel.”
“We will be doing it together, it will be half-and-half, 50-50, and… we will have the best drones in this part of the world,” he tells reporters during a visit to a military unit in Belgrade.
He does not name the Israeli manufacturer, specify the value of investment or say how soon the plant would be operational.
Ten IDF soldiers were wounded, three of them seriously, during a clash with Hezbollah gunmen in the southern Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil overnight, the military says.
The soldiers, of the Paratroopers Brigade, were taken to a hospital and their families were notified, the army says.
Three soldiers are listed in serious condition, one is in moderate condition, and six were lightly hurt, according to the IDF.
Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah stronghold, has been the focus of IDF operations in southern Lebanon in recent days.
Italy is suspending its defense agreement with Israel, says Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“In consideration of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel,” she tells reporters as she visits a wine festival in Verona.
The 2003 Memorandum of Understanding was signed under Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, and set the stage for cooperation in defense and scientific research. The MoU was ratified by Italy in 2005, and is renewed automatically every five years.
As Italians have taken to the streets since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre en masse to denounce Israel, Meloni’s right-wing government has been under pressure over its position on the conflict.
In September, she said at the UN that Italy will back some European Union sanctions against Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip, saying that Israel’s actions had crossed a line “violating humanitarian norms, causing a slaughter of civilians.”
During the US-Israel war against Iran, Italy refused to allow some US aircraft headed to the Middle East on a combat mission to land at its Sigonella base, a Defense Ministry source and Italian media said.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will chair a video conference in Paris on Friday for countries that are willing to contribute to the defensive multilateral mission to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz when security conditions permit, the French presidency says.
Senior diplomats will hold a video call on Wednesday ahead of the leaders’ meeting, two European diplomats say.
Ori Elmakayes and Telem-the Movement for Integrity in Government petition the High Court of Justice against the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next director of the Mossad intelligence agency.
The petition centers on alleged wrongdoing by Gofman when he commanded the IDF’s 210th Bashan Division — specifically his authorization of actions in which intelligence soldiers transmitted classified information to Elmakayes, who was 17 at the time and therefore a minor, and asked him to publish it online as part of an influence operation.
As a result of Gofman’s actions, Elmakayes was detained and interrogated by the Shin Bet domestic security agency, held in isolation for two months, and charged with espionage offense. He spent 18 months in detention before the charges were dropped.
Telem states that the petition cites this affair as well as what it says was Gofman’s failure to tell the truth to IDF investigators who probed the incident, along with the fact that “he was silent” during the legal proceedings against Elmakayes, “his failure to take responsibility for the affair and the abuse of a minor who had committed no offense, and his lack of trustworthiness.”
The petition also underlines opposition to Gofman’s appointment by the chair of the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee, retired Supreme Court president Asher Grunis. The committee approved Gofman by three votes to one, but Grunis stated in his minority opinion on the appointment that Gofman’s role in the Elmakayes affair amounted to a “very severe” ethics flaw” and that his appointment as Mossad chief was therefore “inappropriate,” according to media reports.
The petition also notes that there were “substantial factual contradictions” between the facts cited by Grunis and the other committee members in their respective opinions. It says that of the three committee members who approved the appointment, two did not have access to classified documents relating to the Elmakayes case. Grunis did have access to these documents, as did acting Civil Service Commissioner Daniel Hershkowitz, who voted in favor of Gofman’s appointment.
“In light of the serious flaws in the [committee’s] majority decision, and the extreme unreasonableness of the decision to approve the appointment, contrary to the committee chairman’s assertions regarding the integrity of the candidate’s qualifications… the petitioners ask the court to order the cancellation of the appointment and the annulment of the decision of the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee,” Telem states.
In China, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says Beijing is the only global player he can see helping end wars in Iran and other places.
“I find it very difficult to find other interlocutors, beyond China, who can resolve this situation in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz,” Pedro Sánchez says, urging the Asian giant to do more on the diplomatic front.
Sánchez said that his country wants to avoid impunity for those who commit crimes in places like Gaza, where he says a “genocide” has been committed.
“International law is being violated today, fundamentally by one country: the government of Israel,” he says. “There is also an absolutely illegal response from the Iranian regime regarding a war that we have described from the very beginning as a mistake and an illegality.”
“Those of us who raise our voice against governments violating international law are being threatened,” Sanchez says.
European airlines have urged the European Union to step in with emergency measures to tackle repercussions from the Iran war, including widespread airspace closures and mounting concerns over jet fuel shortages, a document seen by Reuters shows.
Industry group Airlines for Europe (A4E) has requested that the EU introduce a raft of crisis response measures, including EU-level monitoring of jet fuel supplies, a temporary suspension of the EU’s carbon market for aviation, and scrapping certain aviation taxes, it says in the document.
The aviation sector has been hit by airspace closures since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency banning European airlines from operating in the airspace of several Gulf countries, including the UAE and Qatar until April 24.
The sector is also staring at a jet fuel crunch after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Last week, industry group Airports Council International Europe (ACI) warned that Europe could face a systemic jet fuel shortage in three weeks.
Knesset Finance Committee chairman Hanoch Milwidsky (Likud) tells lawmakers that he turned down requests by some northern community leaders to remotely address today’s parliamentary discussion on formulating a wartime Economic Assistance Plan Bill, explaining that focusing on the hard-hit region would prevent progress on wider efforts to provide economic assistance to businesses harmed by the war.
“I received many requests from heads of local authorities in the north who wanted to join via Zoom. It is important for me to clarify that the current discussion focuses on formulating a national compensation framework for all business owners in Israel and does not focus on the situation of the northern local authorities. Businesses in the north are part of the general business plan, and they are entitled to a dedicated and enhanced framework, built according to the unique characteristics and severe damage to the region,” Milwidsky says.
Having too many parties attend the meeting remotely would impede progress on the compensation plan for businesses, he says, adding that he and Knesset Internal Affairs Committee chairman MK Yitzhak Kroizer (Otzma Yehudit) are planning to bring lawmakers from both panels “on a tour of the north to see where we can help.”
Last month, lawmakers and representatives of communities on the northern and Gaza borders protested government-wide cuts in the 2026 state budget, which they said would significantly harm efforts to rehabilitate and develop frontline towns and cities. In response, the government announced its approval of NIS 100 million ($31.6 million) in “immediate aid” to regional councils for dealing with “emergency expenditures” due to the war with Iran — less than critics said had been cut.
During a discussion held by the Special Committee for Strengthening and Developing the Negev and Galilee on protection gaps in the north yesterday, committee chairman Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu) told lawmakers that only 20 percent of the funds allocated to build bomb shelters for 21 communities within five kilometers of the northern border have been disbursed, leaving the majority of eligible residents without shelter.
According to Forer, data from the Defense Ministry showed that NIS 900 million ($295 million) earmarked to help residents build protected spaces in Israel’s north have not been transferred.
Police say they have arrested eight suspects, among them several minors, in the fatal shooting of a young Arab man in the Lower Galilee earlier this year.
The victim, 22-year-old Wael Saeida, was killed in February during a trip to his local bakery in Umm al-Ghanem, where was buying bread to break his fast during Ramadan.
Paramedics found Saeida suffering from gunshot wounds and took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead by medical staff.
This morning, Northern District police arrested eight people suspected of involvement in the crime.
Police believe that Saeida was not the assailants’ intended target and that the shooting was carried out over a fight that started at a school.
Demand for crude oil will likely see the biggest slump in the second quarter since the COVID pandemic slammed the global economy in 2020, the International Energy Agency warns.
Surging prices caused by the war in the Middle East will force many countries and industries to curb oil use, and “demand destruction will spread as scarcity and higher prices persist,” the agency says in its monthly report.
China says that a US blockade around Iranian ports is “dangerous and irresponsible,” after US President Donald Trump threatened to sink any boats that seek to leave or dock there.
“The US increased military operations and took a targeted blockade action, which will only exacerbate tensions and undermine the already fragile ceasefire agreement and further jeopardize safety of passage through the Strait,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun tells a news conference, adding “this is dangerous and irresponsible behavior.”
The State Attorney’s Office requests that the Jerusalem District Court hand over a document reportedly submitted to it by the Shin Bet, determining that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unable to testify at his criminal trial at present due to the risk that Iran may attempt to harm him during a court appearance
Channel 13 news reported on Sunday that, along with Netanyahu’s own request to postpone his trial by two weeks, Shin Bet chief David Zini submitted a letter to the Courts Administration’s legal adviser, warning that there would be a risk to the premier’s life if an upcoming length public appearance, such as court testimony, was public knowledge.
In a letter to the court sent today, the State Attorney’s Office says that it did not receive Zini’s position paper, despite standard practice for the prosecutor’s office to receive information pertinent to court proceedings, and it had learned of it through media reports.
“The prosecution has no knowledge of whether such a position paper was submitted for the consideration of the court, and whether such a position paper was a consideration in the court’s decision to cancel the hearing of [Netanyahu’s] testimony this week,” the State Attorney’s Office tells the court.
The State Attorney’s Office says it should have been given Zini’s position paper. It asks the court to transmit it to the prosecutor’s office, and to make clear that all such documentation be passed on to it in the future.
In response to the reports of Zini’s position paper, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel said the revelation was strikingly similar to accusations made by Zini’s predecessor, Ronen Bar, that Netanyahu had repeatedly asked him to issue position papers to the court that the premier was unable to testify due to security threats.
“Bar refused. Bar was fired. Now, with Shin Bet head David Zini, whom Netanyahu himself appointed, the position paper that Netanyahu failed to get from the previous Shin Bet head is suddenly being accepted,” the Movement for Quality Government charged.
The organization, which had petitioned the High Court of Justice against Zini’s appointment, says: “This is exactly the scenario we warned against.”
The Jerusalem District Court agreed on Sunday to cancel Netanyahu’s testimony in three hearings this week, although the decision was based on a separate position paper, the State Attorney’s Office says, regarding the general security and diplomatic situation in the region due to the recent conflict with Iran.
Negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Islamabad this week, five sources tell Reuters, days after the highest-level talks between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended in the Pakistani capital without a breakthrough.
A source involved in the talks says a date is not yet decided, but both countries could return as early as the end of this week.
“No firm date has been set, with the delegations keeping Friday through Sunday open,” a senior Iranian source says.
A two-minute siren is now sounding throughout Israel and the country comes to a standstill as it marks Holocaust Remembrance Day with various state ceremonies and events.
The main state ceremony is being held at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem museum.
The siren has one continuous tone, unlike alerts warning of rocket attacks, which rise and fall repeatedly. In the event of an attack on Israel during the siren, the siren will be halted, and instead, a warning siren will sound.
Hungarian low-cost airline giant Wizz Air backtracks on plans to gradually resume flights to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport later this month, instead extending the suspension of services to Israel through May 4.
The decision comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cautioned that the Iran ceasefire could end at any moment, and the Israeli army remains on high alert after the American military’s naval blockade of Iran took effect yesterday.
Following the ceasefire agreement reached last week that halted the joint US-Israel military campaign against Iran, Wizz Air had opened ticket sales, planning to restart flight services to Tel Aviv on April 25 in a gradual manner, in line with international safety guidelines.
Israel will come to a standstill for two minutes at 10 a.m., as the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day siren will wail to commemorate the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II.
The official state ceremony marking Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem will commence immediately after the siren.
The siren has one continuous tone, unlike alerts warning of rocket attacks, which rise and fall repeatedly.
In the event of an attack on Israel during the Holocaust Remembrance Day siren, the siren will be halted, and instead, the rocket warning siren will sound.
The Health Ministry says that since the beginning of the war on February 28, 7,740 people have been admitted to hospitals.
Of them, 104 are currently hospitalized. One is in critical condition, 12 are in serious condition, 34 are in moderate condition, and 53 are in good condition. The casualty figures include soldiers and civilians.
The ministry does not give a breakdown of the causes of injuries. Some were indirect, such as people injured while trying to reach shelters, rather than as a direct result of missile fire.
Iranian oil sales in recent weeks have been favorable and part of the revenue will be allocated to repairing damage to industry caused by wartime attacks, Iran’s oil minister says.
Mohsen Paknejad says oil workers have maintained operations across facilities during the conflict, ensuring oil exports were not halted “even for a single day,” including at key export hubs such as Kharg Island.
The minister said last month that the selling price of Iranian crude had significantly increased.
Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor condemns Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s attack on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, saying it “erodes the memory of the Holocaust and presents it in a completely distorted way.”
Speaking to Kan Radio, Prosor says he “unequivocally condemn[s]” Smotrich’s comments.
After Merz expressed “deep concern” over settlement expansion in the West Bank and said that “there must be no de facto annexation” there, Smotrich wrote on social media: “You will not force us into ghettos again.”
Prosor says: “It is entirely possible and legitimate to argue with the Germans… Political disagreement exists all the time, but Germany is a great friend of Israel.”
While he acknowledges that “many things Germany does are not acceptable to us, and things we do are not acceptable to them,” he asserts that “Germany has proven, especially amid all the criticism of Israel in Europe, that it is our number one friend.”
After German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed “deep concern” over the current state of affairs in the West Bank and said that “There must be no de facto annexation” there, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has assailed the German leader, saying: “You will not force us into ghettos again.”
In a post on X overnight, Smotrich writes: “On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the German Chancellor should bow his head and apologize a thousand times on behalf of Germany, rather than daring to preach morality to us on how to conduct ourselves against the Nazis of our generation.”
Smotrich goes on to reference the acts of Hamas-led terrorists during the October 7 attacks, appearing to equate the perpetrators with Palestinian society as a whole.
The minister adds, “We will not accept instructions from hypocritical leaders in Europe, a continent that is once again losing its conscience and its ability to distinguish between good and evil.”
On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the German Chancellor should bow his head and apologize a thousand times on behalf of Germany, rather than daring to preach morality to us on how to conduct ourselves against the Nazis of our generation—who murdered, raped, slaughtered,… https://t.co/9Rmwz2AtM9
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) April 13, 2026
In a direct message to Merz, he adds, “Mr. Chancellor, the days when Germans dictated to Jews where they were permitted or forbidden to live are over and shall not return. You will not force us into ghettos again, certainly not in our own land.”
A man was shot and killed in Herzliya overnight, first responders say.
Paramedics were dispatched at around midnight to the scene of the shooting in a residential area of the city, according to the Magen David Adom service.
They found a 45-year-old man in critical condition and attempted to resuscitate him before rushing him to the hospital. He was pronounced dead by medical staff.
Police launched an investigation into the lethal shooting and began searching the area for suspects. No arrests have yet been reported.
A Chinese tanker sanctioned by the United States has passed through the Strait of Hormuz despite a US blockade on the chokepoint, shipping data shows.
The Rich Starry would be the first to make it through the strait and to exit the Gulf since the blockade began, data from LSEG, MarineTraffic and Kpler shows.
The tanker and its owner Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co Ltd were sanctioned by the United States for dealing with Iran. The company cannot be immediately reached for comment.
Rich Starry is a medium-range tanker that is carrying about 250,000 barrels of methanol on board, according to the data. It loaded the cargo at its last port of call, the United Arab Emirates’ Hamriyah, the data shows.
The Chinese-owned tanker has Chinese crew on board, the data shows.
An IDF reservist was killed and three other troops were wounded when a Humvee overturned in southern Lebanon last night, the military announces.
The soldier is named as Sgt. Maj (res.) Ayal Uriel Bianco, 30, a firetruck driver in the 188th Armored Brigade, from Katzrin.
Three other reservists were wounded in the same incident, one of them moderately and the other two lightly, and were evacuated for medical care, the IDF adds.
The circumstances of the apparent accident are under investigation by the military.
Pakistan has proposed hosting a second round of talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad in the coming days, before the end of the ceasefire, two Pakistani officials say.
The officials, who speak on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to discuss the matter with the press, say the proposal will depend on whether the parties request a different location.
One of the officials says that, despite ending without an agreement, the first talks were part of an ongoing diplomatic process rather than a one-off effort.
Air raid sirens sound in several Western Galilee communities amid a suspected Hezbollah drone infiltration from nearby Lebanon.
After the US asked Iran to suspend uranium enrichment for 20 years during the talks in Islamabad, Tehran submitted a formal response on Monday saying it will only agree to do so for five years, according to the New York Times, which quotes a pair of senior Iranian officials and a US official.
The US official says President Donald Trump rejected the proposal, adding that Iran is also rebuffing American requests to remove its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Though the Iranians reportedly said they would dilute the enriched material, they could reverse that step at a later date and again enrich it to weapons-grade.
The officials quoted by the New York Times also says talks are being held on another round of face-to-face talks but no plans have been made.
The United States made “a lot of progress” in talks with Iran, US Vice President JD Vance says in an interview on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier.
Vance, asked whether more negotiations are coming, says the ball is in Iran’s court, explaining that he left the talks in Pakistan last weekend because “the [Iranian] team that was there was unable to cut a deal and they had to go back to Tehran — either from the supreme leader or somebody else — and actually get approval for the terms that we had set.”
“The big question from here on out is whether the Iranians will have enough flexibility, whether the Iranians will accept the critical things that we need to see in order for things to get done,” Vance says during the interview. “We must have the enriched material out of Iran. We must have their conclusive commitment to not develop a nuclear weapon.”
“If the Iranians are willing to meet us there, then this can be a very, very good deal for both countries.”
“Whether we have further conversations, whether we ultimately get to a deal, I really think the ball is in the Iranian court because we put a lot on the table,” Vance continues. “We actually made very clear what our red lines were. We also made really clear, Bret, we actually would be very happy… if Iran was treated like a normal country, if it had a normal economy, if its people were able to prosper and thrive. But in order for Iran to be a normal country economically, it’s going to have to be a normal country from the perspective of not pursing a nuclear weapon, and its going to have to be a normal country from not pursuing terrorism.”
“I really think there is a grand deal to be had here, but it’s up to the Iranians I think to take the next step.”
Vance adds that the US expects Iran will make progress on opening the Strait of Hormuz, warning that the negotiation would change if Tehran does not.
“We have the cards, we have the military advantage, we now have additional economic pressure that we’re applying on them through the blockade that we’ve imposed on their oil coming out of the Straits of Hormuz,” he says.
WATCH: "The ball really is in their court," @VP JD Vance tells @BretBaier, stating that while the U.S. has defined its red lines for a "grand deal," the Iranian delegation lacked the authority to finalize terms without approval from Tehran. pic.twitter.com/h0dpzDaP7O
— Special Report (@SpecialReport) April 13, 2026
Oil prices are likely to continue rising until “meaningful” ship traffic resumes through the Strait of Hormuz, likely in the next few weeks, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright says.
Wright tells the Semafor World Economy forum in Washington that despite previous comments he made that oil prices would likely come down soon, they are likely to stay high or even rise until a substantial flow of traffic resumes through the Straight of Hormuz.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune says the United States has been “effective” in the war with Iran but needs a plan to end it.
“They do need a plan for how to wind this down, how to get an outcome that actually leads to a safer, more secure Middle East and, by extension, a stronger national security position for the United States,” Thune tells reporters after returning from a two-week recess Monday.
On Trump’s blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, Thune says that “penalizing those who do business with the Iranians may get people’s attention,” including China, which depends on energy in the region.
“That probably more than anything else right now, is going to be the key issue to resolving the situation, getting the Iranians to the table,” Thune says.
He also says it’s his understanding that a potential request from the White House to pay for the war has been scaled back, but he doesn’t give a specific number.
Congress is still waiting for the request, which could total hundreds of billions of dollars. The Pentagon sent the White House a request for $200 billion last month, but Trump has not yet asked Congress to approve any new amount for the war.
Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, says the request will be an “inflection point” for Republicans, as Congress will have to vote to approve it. That is a “power that Congress has to influence what happens there,” he says.
